I shop online occasionally. Yesterday, I ordered my daughters party supplies for her second birthday party through Oriental Trading. I remembered I had coupons in my coupon binder for Oriental Trading so I pulled those out and found a code. My order was just over $39.00 for all of her supplies/decorations/favors and the coupon had a code on it for free shipping on any orders over $39.00. I went into Oriental Trading through my Upromise account originally but it was only a 4% savings. After using the coupon code, it took $8.99 off of my total order and shipping was free. Savings= $8.99 after coupon code.

Later that evening my mom called me to discuss a present she wanted to get for my daughter. For some odd reason after I searched the present online a coupon code showed up on my Swagbucks Homepage. There was a coupon code on the page for 10% off at the store she was planning on buying the present from. I quickly emailed her the code before she made the purchase and it took $14.00 off of her order! Savings= $14.00 after coupon code.

Be sure to search for online coupon codes before making purchases online. You can save a lot after entering these codes at checkout. I listed my favorite place to find coupon codes below. If you know of any, please leave a comment so others can take advantage of these codes! You will not always find a coupon code for the store you are buying from, but it is worth looking into!

Link up your savings! If you wrote a post on how much you have saved on a shopping trip today or this past week, please add the specific savings blog post here! Tell us the place you shopped and how much you saved as the description!

Swagbucks is fighting the Back-To-School blues all this week with lots of fun promotions! First, you'll have the chance to win five different limited edition back-to-school themed Swag Bucks - if you snag them all, you'll earn a 50 Swag Buck bonus! Take advantage of sales in the Swag Store on all School Supplies and Cookie's Kids Merchandise, make sure you follow Swag Bucks on Twitter and Like them on Facebook for more rewarding opportunities. Plus, they're having another Swag Code Extravaganza on Thursday, where you'll get at least 5 codes for extra bucks.

*If you're not already searching and winning on Swagbucks.com, head over now and enter the code BackToSchool for 40 bonus bucks during registration! Thats 70 Swagbucks in all because you get 30 Swagbucks for signing up! Just go here to signup.

My Swagbuck earnings: $85 in Amazon Gift Cards in less than three months! Be sure to read my Swagbucks Tips at the top of my homepage.

Over the next 24 hours, I am hosting an "expired coupons" giveaway. Our U.S. military families stationed overseas are able to use them on base for up to SIX MONTHS after the manufacturer's expiration date!

I have a 6X9 envelope full of expired coupons to offer. I will mail it within one week. Most expired on 7/31/10.

Rules:

*Must be in the U.S. Military
*Must be stationed overseas
*Must be 18 or older
*Must provide APO address if you are the winner
*Serious replies only, please.

You will then have 24 hours to reply if you are contacted. If you are big into using coupons overseas, this giveaway is great for you!

To enter:
Email thefrugalfreegal@yahoo.com and tell me why you want to win this giveaway. I will then collect the entries and do a random drawing through random.org. I will contact the winner, gather the information needed, and send your coupons within one week.

If you’re new to Swagbucks, it’s a free rewards program that lets you can earn "digital dollars" for doing web searches, online shopping, taking polls and more. Just a few searches a day can help you earn Swagbucks quickly. After earning a certain number of Swagbucks, you can trade them in for prizes like Amazon gift cards, DVDs, video games and more. On Mega Swagbucks Day you can earn Swagbucks in increments of 50, 100, 200 or even 1000 just by doing routine web searches. Once you see that "cute little Swagbucks digital dollar" pop up on searches, you will be hooked and want to search more!

My gift cards have already been transferred to my Amazon account and I have already made a purchase with my earnings!

How to sign up:

Signing up is FREE! You’ll earn 30 Swagbucks just for signing up. Several of my friends have signed up and they are already earning prizes! Click the Swagbucks box at the top of this post to sign up. If you have questions about using the program, please email me at thefrugalfreegal@yahoo.com.

MilitaryOneSource.com offers a free Elmo DVD for military families called, "Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes." This bilingual multimedia outreach program is designed to support military families with children between the ages of 2 and 5 as they cope with the feelings, challenges, and concerns experienced during different phases of deployment. The DVD kit includes a copy of the first video Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment and new additional video and parent/caregiver materials designed to help children of injured veterans and other returning service members adjust to the changes in their parents.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

There will always be birthday parties, holidays, retirements, baby showers, weddings, homecomings, and more. Are you finding out that buying gifts just isn't in your budget? Make room in your budget and read about frugal gift giving below.

I recently got this idea from a friend and started my own stash of gifts at home. She writes:

"A great way to save money and have gifts ready in a pinch is to have an at-home gift closet or area! My mother always had one when I was a child, we'd grab gifts for friends and family from the stash of great presents. Great for children's birthdays, thank-you's and any other sort of occasion. I keep it stocked with many items purchased on sale or clearance from discount to department stores. Great items such as candles, wine boxes/carriers, gift bags/tissues, greeting cards (dollar stores) and sale items after holidays. You can find great deals from Victoria's Secret Bath and Body section, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Michaels and more of your favorite stores! Whenever I have a party or event coming up, I just open up the closet and I always have something perfect for the occasion!"

Thanks, friend! I just may have my own gift to give you from my stash the next time I see you.

Do you have an area at home designated for gifts or other ideas for saving money on gifts? Let us know about it. Leave a comment!

Go here to get a free sample of Cheetos Mighty Zingers. You need to register first. Then go back under "Snack Savings" or "Snack Ready Alert" to request your sample. Some of you are already registered if you have requested "Be Snack Ready" free sample requests before.

*If you are a male stumbling across this post, you can either 1.) run away in embarrassment or 2.) pass this valuable information to the ladies of the house!

One of my favorite free samples to sign up for is for the feminine products that come a long my way. See the picture above. Quite a nice stash, huh? Feminine products are always "improving" and there are always free samples to be requested (Playtex, Tampax, Kotex, O.b., Poise, Always, Carefree, Stayfree, Tena) In fact, I find myself posting free feminine products quite often--and I sign up for all of them! The companies are generous in their samples as they usually send at least three tampons, at least three pads, or a little of both. There are high value coupons in just about every free sample I get. When you do this times four or five companies, you have created "a box" of tampons or a "bag" of pads in no time!

We all know how expensive feminine products are, and as frugal as I am, I see no point in spending hard earned dollars on products that are going to end up in the landfill. Sign up for your free samples that come your way and start creating your own stash of feminine products.